Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

I discovered something really important about red velvet, and I’m ready to tell the world. If you’ve never had red velvet, it’s a tender cake with a touch of cocoa powder. It loves to be paired white chocolate, and it loves cream cheese; but what you didn’t know is how much a white chocolate peanut butter heart brings to the party.

If you remember (and laughed at) my Valentine’s Day candy review, you’ll recognize these Reese’s white chocolate peanut butter hearts. It was hard to save 6 for this red velvet sugar cookies recipe, but I did it. If I can do it, you can do it! This small-batch sugar cookie recipe just makes 6 cookies, so all you have to save is 6 hearts. That’s reasonable, right?

To be honest, though, any heart-shaped chocolate is welcome here. The caramel hearts from my small-batch brownies would be great, and even the Dove dark chocolate hearts, though they are a bit smaller.

I’ve got a soft spot for red velvet. I’ve gone years without it, because, as you know, as a society, we are very into beet and spirulina powder these days, and we are certainly avoiding red food coloring. But, um, it’s Valentine’s Day and I just can’t resist a festive dessert for two. It’s just how I roll.

This sugar cookie recipe is based on one from my next cookbook, Sweet & Simple: Dessert for Two, and I love it for so many reasons. The recipe uses melted butter, which is always loads easier for a person like me who is a) impatient and b) never remembers to put butter on the counter to soften. These cookies bake up soft, crackly and perfect, no matter what size you scoop them. I’ve rolled them into 10 dough balls, and I’ve beefed it up to 6 balls (like I did here)–no matter what I do, they always bake up perfect. They also bake up perfect round, even if you do a half-ass job shaping them into balls.

They’re essentially the perfect sugar cookie recipe that you need in your arsenal.

at first i was like WHOA THERE idk about red velvet and pb. and then i thought about it, and red velvet is basically chocolate's sassier (tangier) cousin, so why not?! these sound delicious and look so festive with minimal need for decoration talent (:

I went to Target and these were sold out! I'm going to hit up another Target in my area though. I'm determined to get my hands on the Reese's to recreate these beautiful cookies. First time commenting on your blog! Though I have commented on Instagram before.

I made two batches of these this weekend! The first batch I doubled and used as a small birthday gift and the second batch I made just for my husband and I. They are delicious and so easy! Thanks for such a great recipe!

These look lovely! My daughter is allergic to red food colouring - what do you think would happen if I made non-coloured red velvet cookies? Would you think I need to add more liquid to make up for no food colouring?

Hi Andrea!
You can absolutely make these cookies without the red food coloring. They'll be light brown (like chocolate chip cookies). You don't need to add anything extra, but you could double the vanilla for fun? :)

No, sorry, Jen. These cookies are made to spread and get crisp on the edges and crackly and chewy in the middle. If you cut out shapes and bake, they will spread everywhere.
Here is my recipe for cut-out cookies: http://www.dessertfortwo.com/1-dozen-cut-out-sugar-cookies-2/

I was so excited to make these and sadly they turned out not so great :/ I bake quite a bit and can't pinpoint why they flopped. They had a very dark red color, not the beautiful vibrant red shown here. also, the taste was really off. I live in high altitude, so I added 1 extra T of flour because they were really oily. I did also use McCormick food coloring and adjusted that as well. I'm not sure what went wrong.

I used food coloring instead of gel too but mine came out divine. Granted I only used a few drops trying to guess what it would take, and they came out brown instead of red, but I can live with that. Did you add baking powder instead of soda?

I cheated and tripled this recipe - and it worked beautifully! I know that is not the way it should be - you test and test to get it into a small batch - but I needed more and wanted you to know if was really great!

Hi Christina, would you show a simple chocolate cake recipe for me ( and my boyfriend sometimes...But mostly for me :P)....
I don't have a microwave ..Or else the chocolate mug cakes would have been great...

In a word: no. Don't alter the recipe because the recipe is tested to work as-is. If you make modifications, I can't guarantee the results. In this case, if you add more liquid, the cookies will spread everywhere and the vinegar will make them rise unevenly. You can try the red velvet cupcakes on my site instead: http://www.dessertfortwo.com/red-velvet-cupcakes-2/ Thanks,
Christina

I love your sight and ALL of your recipes! I am a home baker and am interested in creating a blog of my own. Do you have any suggestions for an easy to use, free site, to start my own blog? Also I want to buy a quality but cheap camera- do you have any suggestions?

Hi Christina, I just made these and they didn't turn out well. The cookie spread and flattened and didn't achieve the crackly thick look of your cookies. Does the rolling in sugar make a difference because I skipped this? Does the butter need to be cooled? Does the dough need to chill? They look so beautiful that I'm sad they failed for me.

Hi Jenny!! Aww bummer, I'm so sorry! When a cookie spreads and flattens too much (and the recipe was followed correctly), the first thing I think of is the baking sheet and what you covered it with. Did you use parchment paper? It acts as an insulator and keeps cookies from spreading too much. Did you use just the egg yolk, not the whole egg? The sugar rolling is a-ok. No chill time required.
Gah, I'm so sorry you had a failure. I hate when recipes don't work! I'm clicking around on instagram right now and I see other people made them and had success, so I'm at a loss for why they failed. I'm so sorry. Happy Valentine's Day! I appreciate you letting me know.

I haven't tried that, Shelley, but I think you could! Just add a few minutes to the baking time, and I would press them down gently before baking to make sure they spread. I want you to have flat cookies for pressing the hearts on top :)

These were Reese's last year, but I don't think they made the white ones this year. BUMMER! So, the chocolate ones in the video are from this year. I got them at Walmart & I've seen them at Target. It's so frustrating how candy companies only send certain styles of candy to certain stores!

Hi Christina! I followed your recipe exactly (but doubled it) and my cookies didn't turn out red. They turned out brownish. I used red gel food coloring as specified. I had a feeling the color wasn't right as soon as I mixed everything up but was hoping magic would happen in the oven and they would miraculously come out red like yours pictured. Any idea what might've gone awry? Also, next time can I try using red gel icing coloring instead of gel food coloring? Is it the same thing?

Hi Anna! Oh no! I'm sorry this happened to you! Did you watch the video at the top of the post? Are they the same color as in the video? The photos in the post are enhanced for Pinterest. Sorry to mislead you! The cookies should be clearly red, but not super bright red. Do you like the color of them in the video?

What did I do wrong?? I couldn't sprinkle the flour on the 'dough' - it was complete liquid! Were my eggs too big I wonder? I doubled the recipe and had to add another half cup flour to keep it from being too wet to handle. It cut down the colour and they never 'cracked' like the picture. Tips welcome!

Hmmm, Pam. I'm guessing that doubling the recipe is the cause. But also, if you use extra-large eggs, yes that could be it, too. I only test my recipes the way you see written, not doubled. I'm sorry! The dough is very loose because it's made with melted butter. Did you watch the video? It shows you exactly how to make it. IF you follow the directions exactly, you will get the right results. Good luck next time :)

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